


The Aftermath

by MikeWritesThings



Series: trans octane [1]
Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: ?? i guess, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Loss of Limbs, Pre-Canon, Trans Male Character, Trans Octane | Octavio Silva, medical talk, mentions of other legends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-12
Updated: 2019-07-12
Packaged: 2020-06-26 19:14:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19774651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MikeWritesThings/pseuds/MikeWritesThings
Summary: “Look on the bright side.” Octavio gestured to his clothing, which was folded neatly on a chair beside him. “My battle binder is still intact.”Ajay’s response was instant and deadpan: “Please stop calling it a battle binder. It’s a modified compressed combat vest.”A pause. “So a battle binder.”-Or, in the aftermath of the very, very terrible Grenade Incident in which he lost both his legs, Octavio also faces several other problems: namely, the fact that his surgery has been postponed and also, he can't pay for anything.Thankfully, Ajay is there.





	The Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> fuck you i write what i want
> 
> tw for mentions of hospital drugs and brief descriptions of injuries

“You want the good news, or the bad news?”

Octavio’s nose was broken. His middle and ring fingers on his right hand were also broken. A rib or two of his might also be fractured. He was covered in lots of bumps and bruises and scrapes, which was why he raised his eyebrows and asked, “There’s good news?”

Ajay let out a huff of breath, adjusting her sweater against the cold air of the hospital rom. “No, I usually just say that so people won't freak out.”

“Makes sense.” He shifted where he lay, wincing as his spine protested the movement. He was covered in tingles that ended abruptly at the new stumps of his thighs, and every motion only made those tingles catch fire. “So then, what’s the bad news?”

He may have been in pain, but his tone suggested otherwise. Despite how lethargic he felt, and despite the loss of limbs, there were still a distant feeling of accomplishment that stunts gave him. The feeling made his tone airy and his grin lazy, eyes meeting his friend’s stiff posture.

“Well, aside from your legs having been _blown off,_ ” Ajay said sharply, holding a clipboard up, though it was more for show than any actual need for it, because she kept her eyes trained on him the whole time. “Your mastectomy _and_ T.H.I have both been postponed for a year. The doctors have determined that such major surgeries so soon after this could put you into shock and interfere with your rehabilitation. Looks like you’re stuck with the normal t-shots until then.”

There was a pause, and Octavio’s lazy grin faded away.

“Ah, fuck,” he said.

“Fuck indeed.” Ajay dropped her clipboard, abandoning all pretense of its use, and placed her hands on her hips. “You were two weeks away and you just _had_ to do something stupid. I cannot _believe_ you. Two weeks, Tavi.”

“I mean, look on the bright side.” Octavio gestured to his clothing, which was folded neatly on a chair beside him. Sure, it was torn and dirty, but still wearable. “My battle binder is still intact. Shit’s expensive.”

Ajay’s response was instant and deadpan: “Please stop calling it a battle binder. It’s a modified compressed combat vest.”

A pause. “So a battle binder.”

“I can’t stand you,” Ajay sighed, losing all fight within her as she collapsed onto the chair not occupied by Octavio’s belongings. “Okay, you have the battle binder, which you _can’t wear_ while your ribs are healing. What about the huge fee you’re going to have to pay for renewing your testosterone prescription? How much do you even have left?”

Octavio sucked in his cheeks. Ajay lifted an eyebrow, waiting.

“None,” he finally admitted. 

“I’m almost angry,” she said back. “But I expected this.”

“ _Venga!”_ Octavio threw his hands in the air, jostling the countless wires hooked up to his person. “That’s unfair! I thought I’d have the implant by now, okay?”

“And then you blew yourself up,” Ajay said, examining her fingernails.

“And then I blew myself up!”

Despite their back-and-forth, Octavio was glad Ajay was here in the hospital with him, by his side even though she told him off for the whole thing. She was busy preparing for the Apex Games, about to enter her third season and already popular amongst young fans as the cute-but-scary Lifeline. She’d made an emergency appeal to the game runners and had been allowed to fly an airship here, but had to leave tonight.

Octavio just wished her visit wasn’t on such harsh circumstances.

“What are you going to do about it all, love?” Ajay asked, balancing her chin on her knuckles, eyebrows drawing together as she fixed him with a stare. “Your parents aren’t going to pay for all this. You’re going to need prosthetics, a new prescription, money for the rescheduling fee-”

“I’m getting _charged_ for that?!”

“-the hospital fee, _and,_ ” here Ajay drew out a wad of paper, tossing it on the bed. “The track runners want to press charges for the damages you caused.”

“That’s fine,” Octavio said all too quickly, even though it really wasn’t. He took a breath and shifted again, thankfully not feeling much pain. He didn’t feel much at all, actually, which was how he was managing to sit so still. The hospital had pumped him full of so many drugs he didn’t know what this feeling was: not boredom, not excitement, but just. Being there. 

There _was_ the overwhelming feeling of doom, however. This was one of his crazier stunts, the one with the most damaging impact. Sure, he’d had to pay repair fees and hospital bills before, but this was on a whole other level. He tried pushing the doom and gloom to the back of his mind, but it only worsened when he was reminded he wouldn’t be able to pull shit like that again. What was he supposed to do in life if he couldn’t backflip off a Leviathan anymore?

“I don’t know how you’re going to get out of this one, Tavi,” Ajay’s berating tone was gone, replaced by sadness. They’d known each other for nearly a decade, having met in a stuffy private school during class orientation. Their goals in life, their experiences, were rather different, but they had bonded anyways, giggling to themselves. 

Octavio had been there when Ajay took on an internship at a clinic and returned to the dorms exhausted, scrubs smelling like sickness and hair greasy. Ajay had been there when Octavio wore jeans under his skirt until he was allowed to not wear a skirt at all, facing stubborn teachers and judgmental classmates. In short, they had one another’s backs. Through thick and thin. Through...

Through a grenade incident that cost him his legs.

“Ajayita,” Octavio suddenly said, tone sweet, and Ajay gave a groan because she _knew_ it meant nothing good. “You’re a doctor. Sort of. You’ve got connections.”

“Spit it out,” Ajay said, voice vibrating as she spoke through another groan.

Octavio’s pitch heightened.

“You remember that time you left your period kit at home?”

“I hate you,” was Ajay’s immediate response, covering her ears and sinking into her seat. Octavio’s voice continued to rise in pitch, getting louder with each word spoken.

“Remember when your bike broke down in the middle of Nexus? Or that time you found three kittens on the street and couldn’t keep them?”

“I hate you. I hate you. I hate you.”

“Redistributing those medpacks? The _Pancake Incident?_ ”

“ _Octavio._ ”

“My point has been made,” Octavio said smugly, voice back to it’s normal tone. “Safe to say, I think you owe me one.”

“You’re so full of shit.” Ajay straightened up, kicking his bedside roughly. Octavio gave a whine as his fractured ribs gave a twang, his friend feeling no remorse for his pain. “Fine, what do you want?”

Octavio grinned, already forgetting about his aching ribs, and spread his arms wide. Jazz hands.

“Legs. _With guns._ And rocket boosters.”

“I’m leaving,” Ajay responded flatly, getting to her feet.

“No, no, stay! Please! Okay, fine, regular bionic legs. Please. _Pleaaaase._ ”

“I can’t just,” and here his friend rubbed at her temples. “Ask. For bionic legs.”

“Doesn’t have to be legal.” He raised his eyebrows, knowing. “Remember Elliott’s anxiety meds?”

“Different situation. Elliott paid me.”

“After all these years, something this important hinges on money,” Octavio feigned hurt. Raised a hand to swipe at his eyes for dramatic effect. “What happened to our beautiful friendship?”

“You asked me to obtain you bionic legs illegally is what happened,” Ajay said, but she had already pulled out a holotablet, scrolling through text he couldn’t read. “If you quit your whining, I can forge a few signatures for you.”

Instantly, Octavio’s mood shifted. “I love you, Ajayita, have I ever told you that? I love you so much, I could probably, I don’t know, join the Apex Games so I can pay you back and also pay for the rest of my stuff.”

“Yeah, sure,” Ajay said absentmindedly, tapping frantically at the corner of her holotablet. She suddenly dropped it onto his bed. “Wait. _What?_ ”

**Author's Note:**

> proof i am octane:  
> -trans  
> -mexican  
> -feral  
> -???  
> -made of polygons


End file.
